


off the charts

by kurdoodle



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: Crack, F/M, High School, Humor, seventwice, svtwice, twiceteen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 14:30:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9076609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurdoodle/pseuds/kurdoodle
Summary: in which boo seungkwan and his crew of fellow junior boys decide to become hansol's wingmen. because sometimes you need that extra push from some good friends. but most of the time, things fall into place on their own. either way, things get real interesting.





	1. mc boo strikes again

Hansol likes to think that he’s observant. It’s been a habit of his when he’s bored at school to just sit in his classroom and watch. Sometimes his searching gaze scrutinizes the backs of his fellow students, noting who needs to fix their posture (someone needs to tell Chan to stop slouching) and who probably didn’t go out during break that day (Minghao’s white shirt looks too impeccably clean; suspicious, if you ask Hansol). Other times he entertains himself by staring out the window, next to which his desk is conveniently placed, and marvels at how blue the sky is and how the rods and cones in his eyes even have the ability to differentiate color in the first place.

  
He quickly realizes that just because he’s observant doesn’t mean that Dahyun is. Kim Dahyun: the girl from the next classroom over, who just so happens to be his next door neighbor that he rides the bus to school with every morning. She’s observant in all the ways he doesn’t quite get, like noticing the fact that Seungkwan has a star-shaped mole on the back of his neck or that Hansol’s parents always seem to get into an argument on either the 17th or 22nd of each month. She doesn’t care that the sky is blue, only laughs with a smile so blinding that it reminds him of the sun. She doesn’t care about other people’s postures, only makes it a habit to read her textbook with her head resting on her arm flat on the table, and he has to constantly remind her that this will ruin her eyesight if she hasn’t already. She doesn’t care about a lot of things that Hansol seems to care about, and although he definitely doesn’t hate her for it, sometimes he wishes that she would.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He’s waiting outside her classroom to walk to the cafeteria together, looking at the time on his non-existent watch (a habit he’s never quite broken). He’s so busy looking at his wrist that a soft punch on his shoulder causes him to jump a little.

  
“Yo,” Dahyun says, her eyes shining.

  
Hansol smiles back. “Ready to go?”

  
“Oh… about that,” she whispers with a sheepish expression. “I know we promised to eat lunch together today but I have to work on a last-minute project with Yein.” She grabs his hand apologetically, giving it a squeeze.

  
“Ah, it’s okay,” Hansol murmurs, the only thing registering in his mind is how sweaty his palms are, especially after coming in contact with hers.

  
“I’ll make it up to you,” Dahyun promises, giving a mock salute as she gets dragged down the hall by Yein, her hair flying out behind her.

  
Suddenly, he’s accosted by Seungkwan and Chan on both sides. “Yay, that means you get to sit with us!”

  
Hansol groans, but finds himself grinning anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

“So, Nayeon, huh?” Seokmin nudges Seungcheol, who can only give a flustered smile to the younger one’s teasing, barely able to eat his lunch at this rate. Everyone in the school knows that Nayeon is one of the most popular senior girls, and Hansol honestly called it over a year ago that Seungcheol would quickly fall in line in the growing list of Nayeon’s admirers. If anything, he was surprised that it wasn’t any sooner, judging from how much time they spent together, with Nayeon tutoring Seungcheol after he fell behind in class during basketball season.

  
The jesting continues until Jisoo just quietly tells everyone to let the poor guy eat. But not before he sneaks in a little jest of his own, to which Jeonghan gives him a high-five.

  
Hansol just rolls his eyes and shoves his sandwich in his mouth, his stomach growling. Chan slides into the seat next to him. “Man, I’m so ready for this school year to end,” Chan sighs, opening his carton of milk.

  
Seungkwan pipes up from across the table. “I don’t know, I’m cherishing the moment.” His face is oddly serious that it becomes comical. Seungkwan is actually horrible at maintaining a poker face, and the pure effort he is exerting to keep a neutral expression is making his eyeballs bulge out. _Wonderful_ , Hansol thinks, as he gives Seungkwan a slight scowl.

  
Chan furrows his eyebrows and looks at their interaction incredulously. “I don’t get it.”

  
The bread in Hansol’s sandwich suddenly seems so much more dry. Seungkwan laughs. “What? I’m just saying,” Seungkwan utters between spoonfuls of rice, “that Hansol made a promise that he was going to keep by the end of this school year, and we have like, I don’t know…” he glances at his imaginary watch (once Hansol thinks about it, he probably got the habit from Seungkwan, ugh), “...about four more weeks left! And hence, I am cherishing the moment. ‘Tis only the beginning.” Seungkwan rubs his palms together in excitement.

  
Hansol can’t take him seriously on account of remembering that Seungkwan indeed has a star-shaped mole on the back of his neck. But he digresses.

  
“What promise?” Chan asks.

  
Seungkwan has the most devious, stupid smile on his face. _Sandpaper_ , Hansol thinks. Sandpaper. That’s what the bread’s texture is like.

  
“He’s going to confess to Dahyun.”

  
_Well._   


  
Hansol gulps. His throat has never been more parched in his life. He sends daggers through his eyes to his “friend” - whatever nutcase of a friend Seungkwan is, anyway. This friend shrugs. “I don’t get why you’re so embarrassed about it anyway. Puh-lease,” Seungkwan enunciates, as if going into aspiring national MC mode again (Hansol would just like to say that he would prefer not to see Seungkwan’s face on his TV screen at this rate). “Literally everyone can see that you like her.” He notes the unfading glare that Hansol is giving him. “Well, I mean, except Dahyun, that is.”

  
Hansol groans on the inside. Seungkwan has a sheepish smile on his face.

  
“Which, I suppose, is the problem,” Chan finishes for him, shaking his milk carton to make sure that there is nothing left inside.

  
“Of course, nothing that I, genius Boo Seungkwan, can’t solve!”

  
And suddenly, Hansol doesn’t really feel like eating anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The TV rambles in the background on low volume, barely anyone paying attention to what is on the screen. It’s because a certain _someone_ has stolen the spotlight in _Hansol’s_ living room - thank you very much - and everyone’s eyes are on Boo Seungkwan, whose most accurate words to describe him right now include: “absolutely crazy.” Unfortunately, Chan and Minghao have their gazes glued onto Seungkwan as he erupts into a monologue, standing in the middle of the room while the others are seated on the couch or the rug.

  
“And so, you see, we have quite the challenge before us,” Seungkwan is saying, gesturing toward Hansol, who just hugs his bowl of potato chips closer to himself in embarrassment. “We have Choi Hansol, in love with the lovely Kim Dahyun, who is probably sitting in the house next door, in her room dying her hair another absurd unseen-before color, not even the _least_ aware of just how _much_ Hansol’s heart beats for her with so much _yearning_ and _desire_ and _love_.” Seungkwan’s eyes roll upward as he gasps in exaggeration, breath taken away by his own poetic words.

  
Minghao clutches his heart, nodding along, while Chan just smirks at Hansol. They’re _so_ going to get it. But Seungkwan is unstoppable. “I propose that in order for progress to be made, Hansol needs to ask her to prom. In case my fellow classmates - that’s you all - have forgotten, we are nearing the end of our junior year of high school and we have junior prom coming up. This is a grand opportunity, people!” (Hansol groans.) “Of course, asking her to prom will be another challenge in itself. You,” he points to Hansol, “will have to take the initiative to do so. But we are all here to support you and supply you ideas and give the extra push.” Seungkwan’s eyes become extra dreamy. “If you love her,” he sighs with much conviction, “you will have the divine inspiration and courage to ask her. True love always finds a way.”

  
Hansol raises an eyebrow. “Since when were you the love guru and an expert on how to get the girl?”

  
Minghao nods in agreement. “After all, your past confessions have gone… awry… to say the least,” he gives a cheeky smile. Hansol shudders, stealing a glance at him. Savage.

  
Seungkwan brushes the comments aside. “Puh-lease, I’ve seen enough movies and dramas to know how this stuff works. I mean, would you rather do this or stare and do nothing as Hansol single-handedly ruins his chance at love by just sitting there?”

  
“Well, he’s got a point there,” Chan murmurs under his breath. Hansol glares at him.

  
“As a friend,” Seungkwan says, hand on his chest, “I will not stand for seeing Hansol pining away for his crush and not doing anything about it. It is our responsibility to help.”

  
“I never asked for any help,” Hansol denies.

  
“But you promised! You promised that you’d confess to her within this school year. We even shook pinkies on it,” Seungkwan presses on. He pauses. “I mean, fine, you only agreed because I bribed you with ice cream but it’s your fault that you like ice cream so much.”

  
Hansol simply just sticks more potato chips into his mouth, the crunching noises drowning out the increased palpitations in his heart. Suddenly, a smile as wide as the Pacific Ocean spreads over Seungkwan’s face. “What?” Hansol mumbles.

  
“You know what I just realized? This whole time you never denied that you like her. That’s a start, you know. Obviously this is something your heart wants!”

  
He keeps chewing on the chips, hoping to ignore all that is being said. It’s true - he hasn’t once denied this fact. He’s not the type to hide from his feelings. But he _is_ the type to hide them from other people. It makes him feel safer and more in control, somehow. The prospect of letting the secret out is numbing to say the least.

  
But then, he thinks of what might happen if someone else asks her to prom first, how she might slow dance with someone else other than him, how she’ll get her nails done and hair styled only to link arms with another boy. The sinking feeling in his chest - what is this feeling? He’s still thinking about this as the others have finally turned their attention back on the TV, and yet Hansol cannot process the movie they are watching.

  
“Hansol? Hansol?”

  
Hansol blinks awake, only to come face to face with Minghao peering into his eyes. He must’ve drifted asleep.

  
Chan clucks his tongue as he and the others turn off the TV and walk out of the living room. “You’re hopeless,” the younger one jokes, and Hansol would throw his empty chip bowl at him if only he had the energy.

  
“Think on it,” Seungkwan says in a sing-song voice. “Live life without regrets,” he winks.

  
This time, Hansol really does chuck the empty chip bowl at Seungkwan, who yelps in surprise.

  
_Hah, serves you right._   


 

 

 

 

 

Hansol taps his pencil on the desk in his bedroom, thinking about the irony that the weather is doing a fine job of announcing the onset of summer, and yet the homework in front of him reminds him that is indeed not summer. Absolutely cruel. His windows are wide open, the fan on his desk whirring at full speed as Hansol attempts to soak in the physics problem before him. Then his phone vibrates, a picture of Dahyun flashing onto the screen.

  
Hansol grins and answers the phone. “What’s up?”

  
“Do you wanna come over for dinner today? My mom said to invite you over.”

  
“Is this your way of making it up to me? You don’t have to worry about it,” Hansol says.

  
“No! I genuinely want to eat with you, pretty please,” Dahyun pleads over the phone. Gosh, she over-exaggerates everything, he notes amusedly. “Plus we can watch _Doctors_ together; it’s airing tonight, you know!”

  
Hansol rolls his eyes. “I’m not you. I don’t swoon whenever Kim Rae Won shows up on the screen.”

  
“Well, you’re lying if you say that you don’t think Park Shin Hye is pretty. Anyway, I’m saving food for you and there will be an empty spot at the table. If you don’t come, you’ll regret it because my mom made the best food today. BYE!”

  
And with that, the call ends, leaving Hansol feeling like he’d just suffered whiplash from her rapid-fire words. He settles back down to his work, pencil scratching against paper frantically. If he’s going to spend time hanging out with Dahyun this evening, he better get his work done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She was right. The meal was impeccably delicious, especially since he was considering just boiling ramen on his own back home due to his parents’ late working hours.

  
“Thank you for the food,” Hansol quickly bows to Dahyun’s mother, who just laughs and tells him that his manners are too much sometimes. Dahyun just drags Hansol over to the couch, where she sits cross-legged in front of the TV with the remote clutched in her hand. Hansol is getting strange images of deja vu of this afternoon just hours before, except all of a sudden he is much more  interested in what is shown on the TV screen. Maybe because every single time the main lead does something, he finds himself at a loss for what to do when Dahyun ends up squealing and burying her head in Hansol’s lap. Why she does this, he has no idea.

  
“One day, I want to be as badass as Park Shin Hye’s character,” Dahyun declares after the episode is over. “She’s so fierce.”

  
Hansol raises an eyebrow. “I think you’re pretty badass,” he says quietly, but the corners of his lips lift up into a smirk.

  
Dahyun just stares at him. He thinks he could get lost in her eyes. “You’re right,” she says after a moment of silence. “I _am_ pretty badass. I could put you in a headlock any day,” she agrees, then proceeds to wrestle Hansol to the ground. Hansol winces and thinks that he’ll have a bruise along his spine later. But he doesn’t get much time to think about that when he registers Dahyun’s hair tickling his skin and just how close her face is to his.

  
His mind goes completely blank. “I--”

  
Dahyun climbs off of him and straightens her back against the couch. “I’m strong, right,” she laughs, seemingly oblivious to the churning feelings inside him. Hansol can only grunt in affirmation.

  
The atmosphere becomes a little more settled, as the advertisements roll on in the background. She scoots closer to him so that their shoulders bump against each other. “Are you okay?” she asks out of the blue.

  
Hansol blinks in surprise. “Yeah, I’m fine. Am I not supposed to be okay?”

  
She shrugs. “It’s the 17th of the month.”

  
Hansol shoves her lightly. “Dahyun, stop obsessing over that date; my parents aren’t even home yet!”

  
“Well it’s been a pattern,” she pipes up. “Either the 17th or the--”

  
“22nd, I know. But don’t jinx it.” He gives her a smile.

  
“I just don’t like seeing you sad,” she murmurs under her breath, staring at her knees.

  
“Well I don’t like seeing you sad either, so cheer up,” he jokes, poking her cheek to make her smile.

  
She pokes him back, and soon they find themselves enveloped in a tickle war, something you’d think they’d have gotten over after graduating elementary school. But Dahyun is Dahyun, and she makes Hansol go slightly crazy, and even her maniacal laugh sounds like music to his ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, the announcements over the school intercom include the dates and ticket prices for junior prom. Seungkwan’s voice echoes in his head like a horror movie: “Think on it - live life without regrets.” There are times when he regrets befriending Seungkwan, and this is one of those times. He doesn’t need a caricature of Seungkwan’s I-am-a-certified-love-guru face to pop up in his mind whenever he thinks about prom.

  
Speak of the devil, Hansol finds that Seungkwan has sidled up next to him. “Step one: you need to gauge where she’s at.”

  
After he gets over the initial shock of Seungkwan suddenly appearing at such close proximity, he asks, “What do you mean?”

  
His friend gives him a look of pity. “Poor you, so clueless without my wisdom. It’s easy! You need to find out her thoughts: Is she interested in going to junior prom in the first place? Is anyone else going to ask her? Does she _want_ anyone else to ask her? Would she want to go as friends or something more?”

  
Hansol’s going to get a headache from all these questions. “Is that necessary?”

  
Seungkwan shrugs. “Unless you want to go into it blind.”

  
He groans. “I’ll figure it out myself,” he shoos Seungkwan away with a wave of his hand. To his surprise, Seungkwan actually leaves by his own will, but not without flashing a devious smile. The reason for that is soon revealed when his phone vibrates on his desk. Weird, wasn’t his phone in his pocket before?

  
There’s a text from Dahyun: “usual spot?”

  
Hansol purses his lips in confusion when he sees the text to which she is presumably replying. “Hey let’s meet up at lunch today - just you and me” - which he had not sent. Hansol feels his blood boiling as he connects the dots. _Seungkwan… What a lowlife._ He shoots the offender a glare from across the room but it seems to roll right off of him, not the least affected.

  
“Had to do what I had to do” is the text from Seungkwan that pops up on his screen shortly afterward. “Have fun at lunch” is the follow-up text.

  
Hansol clenches his jaw. Closes his eyes for a couple seconds. Well, he’ll just make the best of it, he figures. Not like eating lunch with Dahyun is an anomaly anyway. “Yeah same place,” he types in response to Dahyun before hiding away his phone in his backpack as the teacher starts lecturing. The next hour could not pass by any slower, he thinks as his stomach churns and growls. And not just from hunger, he realizes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The side dishes are better than usual today,” Dahyun hums, scarfing down her food with gusto.

  
“Not as good as your mother’s cooking,” Hansol says, and Dahyun sticks out her tongue as if to say, _duh, that’s a given._  


  
They continue eating in silence, Hansol glancing at her from the side once in awhile. “What, is there something on my face?” she asks, sticking her nose in front of him.

  
He shakes his head, flustered. “No, it’s not that. You’re fine. You’re just very prett-” He stops mid-word, a little horrified at what came out of his mouth.

  
“Thanks,” Dahyun smiles good-naturedly. He thinks he’s imagining the pink tint that appears on her cheeks.

  
“So--”

  
“I--”

  
“You go first,” Dahyun gestures.

  
“I guess I had a question,” Hansol starts, twisting open his water bottle to momentarily distract himself. “About the Doctors drama.” He observes that Dahyun sort of deflates at that. Was she expecting something else?

  
“Yeah?”

  
Hansol clears his throat. “Yeah,” his ears are reddening. “I was wondering, like, do you like it when guys act like that? When they protect you and guide you and… I don’t know…”

  
“Well, yeah, that’s always nice,” Dahyun answers matter-of-factly.

  
“Or, I don’t know, what about other kinds of guys, like - well -” He doesn’t know how to say it, doesn’t know how to ask her whether she would ever look at him as someone more than just a friend, more than just a boy she grew up with.

  
“Like you?” she blurts out, then clamps a hand over her mouth.

  
Hansol blinks once. Then twice. “Yeah.” A thoughtful pause. He’s going to do it. “Junior prom is coming up… were you thinking of going with anyone?”

  
“Well…” she looks a bit unsure.

  
Hansol’s mouth goes dry. He’s about to say something when Dahyun asks, “Wanna go together? As best friends?” Her smile is so blinding and somehow she’s found a way to latch onto his arm.

  
He smiles back, pleasantly surprised. Well, that’s a start. “Sure, let’s do it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He doesn’t think that anyone knows what exactly they’ve signed up for until they experience it. And by it, he means prom. Specifically: suffocating in a tuxedo, pinky toe slightly squished in abnormally-shiny black shoes, and repeatedly getting the air knocked out of your lungs at the sight of a certain girl in a midnight blue dress. It’s gotta be illegal, Hansol thinks to himself.

  
Honestly, he doesn’t know why he’s here. Well, he does - it’s because Seungkwan had scoured the Internet for a viable deal for a fancy restaurant that they could go to before the dance. He’s at a loss as to why exactly he’s still going along with Seungkwan’s plans, but hey - it’s not every day you get to eat at an expensive restaurant.

  
Since none of them could drive, Hansol’s father had dropped them off at the restaurant, leaving the two of them looking around with wide eyes. “Whoa, this is like, so fancy,” Dahyun gushes, pulling out her phone to take pictures.

  
“We’re not even inside yet,” Hansol laughs, opening the door. She nearly trips over her heels as she makes rushes through the doorway in excitement. The restaurant is not as busy as he thought it would be, considering that it’s the dinner before prom.

  
The waiter greets them and it’s almost comical because of how out of place they feel. They’re led to a table that overlooks the seaside. Dang, Seungkwan is really on point with this restaurant deal, he thinks to himself. Dahyun’s about to reach for her chair when -

  
“Wait,” Hansol finds himself uttering, making his way toward her side of the table. He pulls out the chair and gestures for Dahyun to sit. “Am I doing this right?” he mutters under his breath.

  
The waiter seems to catch wind of his nervousness. “Good job,” he assures him, flashing a thumbs up. Hansol reddens.

  
The ordering of food involves a lot of umm’s and hmm’s and hemming and hawing because neither of them are very experienced when it comes to fine dining. They settle for the simplest dinner combo and soon they are alone, waiting for the food to arrive.

  
He can’t seem to look at her directly. All that stuff around her eye - eye shadow and eyeliner and mascara, apparently - somehow brings out the brightness in her eyes a lot more.

  
“This is so interesting,” Dahyun keeps saying about anything and everything in the restaurant. The folded cloth napkins. The arrangement of silverware. The gold-embossed menu. He finds it endearing, how her attention quickly moves from one subject to the other, excitedly distracted.

  
The rest of dinner involves fumbling with how to use the cutlery correctly, Dahyun’s dress getting caught under the chair leg, Hansol nearly dropping his food into his lap, and drinking apple cider to replace the wine. The whole time, they’re both grinning from ear to ear, so much so that Hansol’s cheeks hurt. It’s funny, how a singular meal could be made so special, he thinks to himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time they’ve reached the prom venue (after hitching a ride with Mingyu and Mina, third- and fourth-wheeling them), Hansol feels like the world is spinning: borderline food coma, formal pants a little tight around the waist, the ever perpetual problem-that-is-not-a-problem that is how pretty Dahyun looks. He keeps staring at her out of the corner of her eye, half wishing that she wouldn’t notice and half wishing that she would.

  
Of course, once Soonyoung reveals that there is an ice cream sundae bar, Dahyun’s first thought is to take off her heels and make a run for it. “Because who knows, maybe they only have a limited supply!” Dahyun exclaims.

  
Hansol only marvels at her apparent lack of a food coma. Then again, there is always room for dessert.

  
They’re standing in line for the ice cream sundaes when Dahyun’s face scrunches up in pain, although she tries to mask it. Her hand reaches up to clutch her stomach, gripping the satin textured cloth of her dress.

  
“Are you okay?” Hansol asks, eyebrows furrowing.

  
Dahyun smiles weakly. “Yeah,” she croaks out. A complete 180 degree from the ball of excitement that she was not many minutes ago.

  
He simply stares at her, lips pursed in worry. He sends her a look that says, _I don’t think so._  


  
She reads his expression and sighs. “Fine,” she gives in. “It hurts. A lot,” she says, pouting in disappointment. She glances longingly at the ice cream sundae but they both know that’s the last thing she needs right now.

  
“Could it be food poisoning?” Hansol wonders aloud, although they pretty much ate the same course and he’s not feeling any adverse effects.

  
“I hope not,” she whispers.

  
It gets so bad that Dahyun has tears in her eyes, in pain yet extremely apologetic. “I’m so sorry for ruining prom,” she blubbers outside the women’s restroom while Hansol sits next to her. Out in the dance hall, they’re playing a slow dance song, and he sees Dahyun look out longingly.

  
“This is not anything to say sorry for,” is all Hansol says, resting his arm around her shoulders and rubbing her arm comfortingly. “If you really need to, it’s okay to go just go home and rest. Your health is more important.”

  
And that’s how junior prom ends without even one dance on the floor, or even an ice cream sundae. It ends in a taxi ride back home, Dahyun dozing off on his shoulder in the backseat and Hansol debating the whole time whether or not he should hold her hand. When he comes home a couple hours earlier than planned and finally checks his phone, Seungkwan is asking where they’re at and Hansol doesn’t really have the heart to respond.

  
As he lies down in bed, however, he can’t help but smile because dang, she was truly shining in that midnight blue dress.  


 

 

 

 

 

 

“Well.”

  
Seungkwan sighs. Back to square one in Hansol’s living room, ft. Chan and Minghao. Potato chip bowl nowhere to be seen. Minghao had insisted on watermelon, the healthier and sweeter alternative.

  
“It’s okay, it’s still massive progress,” Chan pipes up. If Hansol listens closely, he hears a little envy in his voice. Chan has been nursing a secret crush on this girl named Arin for the last two years. Zero romantic progress. He has a feeling that this might just be Seungkwan’s next “project.” Hansol begins to pity the poor guy.

  
“Yeah, after all, they did go to prom together,” Minghao adds.

  
Seungkwan is still deep in thought. The room grows silent, as if waiting for the experienced sage to speak his wisdom. Of course, this is the guy who went stag to junior prom, not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that.

  
“I got nothing,” Seungkwan finally says. A thoughtful pause. “For now.” A tiny smile.

  
“Well, that’s sure a relief,” Hansol mutters under his breath.

  
“I think you know what to do,” Seungkwan tells him. “You just gotta find another way to confess. For real.”

  
Knots form in Hansol’s stomach. Great.

  
“I just have a question,” Minghao raises his hand as if in a classroom. “Is Dahyun really this dense?”

  
All three other boys just stare at him.

  
Minghao laughs nervously. “I guess. I guess so,” he says.

  
“And that concludes our second meeting as the support-Hansol-and-Dahyun committee,” Seungkwan wraps up in his MC Boo voice again.

  
“Good luck,” Chan flashes Hansol a smile as he lunges for the video game controller while Minghao switches on the TV.

  
All Hansol can think of is how he can get rid of the headache that’s pulsating in his temples. His gaze flutters to his unanswered text to Dahyun asking whether she was feeling any better. He figures that she’s sleeping in to recover from her stomachache. Sighing, he refocuses his attention onto the TV screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Hansol murmurs, glancing at her quizzically.

  
“I know, but I just feel bad,” Dahyun answers, grabbing a couple kimbap pieces to shove into his mouth. “Eat up!”

  
Hansol feigns choking, but his eyes are laughing - mostly because the kimbap is sort of deformed and a bit too salty. But she made it herself, out of guilt for ruining prom. It’s kind of cute.

  
“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s totally fine?” Hansol says after scarfing down a few more bites. Dahyun watches him eat with satisfaction. “Besides, the tux was getting a little uncomfortable - I don’t know how I would’ve survived the whole night there, anyway.” He flashes an assured smile.

  
“Hmm,” Dahyun evaluates his words, the wheels turning in her head. “Okay.” Then she grabs some kimbap for herself, making a face when she realizes how salty it is. “Hey, you ate two entire rolls of this?” she asks, incredulous.

  
Hansol shrugs. “You just gotta drink some water with it.”

  
Dahyun groans. “I’m such a failure,” she sighs. And Hansol sighs along, but only because Dahyun is being a drama queen.

  
“I like it though,” Hansol finally says, after she recovers from her momentary mid-teenage-years crisis, courtesy of the deformed kimbap in her hand. “Let’s get some ice cream,” he gestures toward the ice cream truck outside the school. “My treat!”


	2. simple is best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> of course, things don't always go according to plan...

He presses the doorbell gingerly, adjusting the backpack on his shoulders, his other hand gripping the hand of his little sister. When the door swings open, he’s greeted with a smiling Dahyun. “Hi --” she starts, then takes a good look at his face, and his firm hold on the girl with him, and she nods in understanding. “Come in and stay for as long as you need,” her voice lowers.

  
Hansol nods in appreciation and follows her lead. “Thanks,” he mumbles. He wonders if taking the easy way out too many times would ultimately be detrimental - that maybe if he tried, if he tried mediating between his parents, they wouldn’t fight so incessantly. But he figures that it would be better to take his sister elsewhere, away from the caustic noise. Even then, there are scars.

  
His little sister is at Dahyun’s dining table with her math homework while Hansol and Dahyun just sit in her living room. “It isn’t the 17th or the 22nd,” Dahyun says, forcing out a laugh. It doesn’t really lighten the mood, but Hansol appreciates it all the same.

  
“No, it isn’t. I wish it didn’t happen at all. I wish that whenever I came over to your place, that wouldn’t even be a reason to consider.”

  
Dahyun rests her head on his shoulder, patting his knee comfortingly. “You know, Hansol?”

  
He swallows, his heart still heavy. “What?”

  
She looks at him squarely in the eye. “You’re a really awesome big brother. And a really awesome friend. I admire you for that.”

  
It takes a while to process her words, his gaze searching hers. “Mmm,” he eventually murmurs. Then, a small smile. “Thanks, Dahyun. That means a lot, especially coming from you.”

  
And so they sit, reading their textbooks and doing homework until it’s 11pm and it’s past his sister’s bedtime and admittedly he should get some rest too. “I’ll get going,” he says, cleaning up his belongings.

  
“You’re the best - remember that,” Dahyun winks. And before he knows it, she’s walking toward him, closer and closer - it happens so fast but her arms wrap around his torso for a split second before letting go. His heartbeat quickens, his arms and hands immobilized in the air.

  
As he and his sister make the 10-second trek back to their home, Hansol wishes that he had hugged her back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“So, I did some sleuthing,” Seungkwan begins.

  
“I’m not sure if this is good or bad,” Minghao mutters under his breath, to which Seungkwan shoots him a glare. Minghao pastes a smile on his face. “But continue.”

  
“As I was saying, I did some sleuthing. More like background research, but whatever. I asked my older sisters for advice.”

  
Hansol winces.

  
“Oh come on, this is nothing to be embarrassed about,” Seungkwan says. “You’ve gotta take pride in your love. Own it. No shame allowed.”

  
“So what did they say?” Chan presses in, currently sprawled out on Hansol’s living room floor like a starfish.

  
Seungkwan clears his throat. “They say these types of relationships are the easiest but most difficult at the same time. Here’s what I learned. Hansol,” Seungkwan looks at him now, eyes intense like lasers. “You feel stuck, right? You don’t want to lose the amazing friendship you have and ruin it with a confession.” Dramatic pause for effect. “You wish she could just open her eyes and suddenly realize your feelings so that you could avoid the awkwardness. You hope with all your heart that she feels the same way. Even then, you’re unsure how a relationship would even look like because it would be different from all you’ve ever known with her.”

  
Hansol blinks. Is he really that easy to figure out?

  
“I’m right, right?” Seungkwan pretends to shoot with a bow-and-arrow with his hands. “Bull’s eye.”

  
Hansol grunts. “And?”

  
“You see, it’s easy because you already know each other so well. But it’s difficult because for other people, all they have to do to get a girl’s attention is to be nice to her, draw close, and showcase their affection.”

  
“Okay, and?” This time it’s Minghao who chimes in, impatient.

  
“Well,” Seungkwan continues. “That’s difficult here because first of all, you two already do these kinds of grand gestures of affection for each other. Like, seriously? Couple kimbap lunchboxes? Sitting next to each other on the bus everyday without fail? Practically being best friends with each other’s parents because you go to each other’s houses so much?”

  
Hansol blushes a bit at that. “I mean… that’s just how things turned out....”

  
“Second of all, the girl is not just any girl. It’s Dahyun.” (“We knew that!” Minghao quips.) “She’s already clueless enough as it is. Any regular act of love would not work on her. Heck, not even going to prom was enough to spark anything,” Seungkwan’s voice intensifies, “You’re going to need something big. Something dramatic. Something _off the charts_.”

  
The way Seungkwan is saying this is giving Hansol foreboding shivers down his spine. This can’t be good.

  
“So...we just need to brainstorm off-the-chart ideas?” Chan echoes, deep in thought.

  
Seungkwan nods, while Minghao stews in his corner of the room, wracking his brain for any ideas.

  
After a few minutes, Seungkwan suggests, “...How about a confession in front of the whole school?”

  
Dead. Seungkwan is so dead, Hansol thinks to himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yet another rowdy day at the lunch tables: Seokmin and Soonyoung making everyone howl with their antics, Jihoon yelling at Mingyu for sneezing on his food (“it was an accident, I promise!”), Minghao and Junhui cackling at some Chinese show they’re watching on Jisoo’s expensive phone, and Wonwoo making up his own background music to the chaos. Sometimes Hansol just thinks there’s too much testosterone to go around.

  
“Everyone, I have an announcement to make,” Seungcheol suddenly raises his voice over the din. It takes a minute for everyone to die down (although Minghao and Junhui are still holding back giggles even after Jisoo steals his phone back). “As you know, a bunch of us are graduating soon. My parents are throwing a graduation party for me and the rest of us at our house a week from now, and you are all invited!”

  
The tables explode with applause and excitement. “Thanks, Cheol, you’re the best!”

  
“Will there be free food?”

  
“Who else is going besides us?”

  
“Ah, that’s a good question,” Seungcheol wiggles his eyebrows in mischief. “I’m inviting some of the girls too.”

  
“Nayeon?” Jeonghan shoves Seungcheol, a bit too roughly to be a mistake.

  
Seungcheol grins. “Yeah. And a bunch of her friends, too. Let’s see,” Seungcheol scrunches his forehead in thought. “Jihyo, Mina, Jungyeon, Chaeyoung, Tzuyu...who else… Dahyun…and...”

  
At that, Hansol smiles to himself. However, he’s not the only one with some kind of idea. “Psst, Hansol,” Seungkwan whispers across the table, a crafty look on his face. Hansol looks around only to see Chan and Minghao turned toward him as well. Hansol groans.

  
“Really now?” Hansol says, not even wanting to entertain the thought.

  
Seungkwan replies, “Really.”

  
“Hell no,” Hansol defiantly says, stabbing a piece of meat with his chopsticks.

  
“Not forcing you,” Seungkwan hums nonchalantly. “Just suggesting.”

  
“Whatever,” Hansol mumbles. What’s so great about seeing her at the party anyway? He could see her every single day, as it is. But, Hansol starts to recall Seungkwan’s (sisters’) advice - something about grand gestures and love declarations that are off-the-charts. Is that really true? Is Dahyun even that kind of person to respond well to these things? Hansol’s not quite sure, and he’s not quite sure if he even wants to find out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(It’s not that he hasn’t tried. He’s tried a few times before, only to be cut off at the crucial moment. Just thinking about it gives him shivers. For example, there was that one time they were at a park on a summer afternoon, eating shaved ice:

  
They were talking about Dahyun’s latest celebrity crush (they change with the seasons, apparently) and she was teasing him about which celebrity he would date if he could ever meet them, when he suddenly blurted that he wouldn’t choose any of them because he knew someone much better. The words rolled off his tongue before he could swallow them.

  
She had cocked her head to the side in surprise, eyes wide and shining in the noon sunlight. “Oh yeah? How so?”

  
He had licked his lips nervously - well, no going back now. “Well, first of all, I know her in real life, so she’s more special,” he gazed at her pointedly, but she was staring down at her scratched-up knees. “And not only that, this girl is beautiful inside and out.”

  
She looked up then, still intrigued. Did she have any idea what he was trying to say? Her expression was unreadable.

  
By that time, he felt like something was squeezing in his chest so hard that he might pass out soon. Maybe the summer heat was getting to him. “Dahyun, I---”

  
Suddenly, the sprinklers on the lawn went off, spraying them with water. Dahyun screamed, grabbing him and running off the lawn to the sidewalk. They stood face to face now, Dahyun sweeping her damp hair out of her face. “So what were you saying?” she ventured, after a slightly awkward pause.

Hansol averted his eyes, mouth dry again. He stole one glance at her, and like that, his courage had deflated. “Nothing that important,” was what he settled for. “Let’s get back home so we could get into some dry clothes.”

  
He wasn’t sure, but as he started walking and Dahyun followed in tow, he might have imagined the fact that she was disappointed, just from the way she carried herself: lips pursed in thought, gaze concentrated on the baked concrete they walked on, sandals clumsy on her feet. But he had missed his chance, his mind in a jumble and words incoherent on his tongue.

  
That was nine months ago. He laughs now, shaking his head at himself for being stuck in relatively the same position since then.

  
Maybe Seungkwan’s musings have some truth in them, he thinks.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You going to the party?” Dahyun bursts into his room while he’s listening to music.

  
“Sorry, what?” he takes off his earphones and turns toward her.

  
“Seungcheol’s graduation party,” she repeats, practically skydiving onto his bed and wrinkling his sheets. Hansol wonders if there’s even any use to making his bed in the mornings anymore. And it has long ceased to be a surprise whenever she randomly appears in his room in the first place.

  
“Well, yeah,” he says. “You? Heard you and a bunch of your friends got invited.”

  
“Yeah, duh! Of course I am!” she exclaims. “Also you’re going, and best friends gotta stick together.”

Hansol grins, sticking out his hand for a high five. She smacks her palm against his with the force of a truck. He winces, shaking his hand in the air. “Oops, too excited,” she comments sheepishly.

  
“By the way, what are your summer plans?” Hansol asks. He’s sitting on the floor, back leaned against his bed, while Dahyun stretches out on his bed.

  
“I probably want to find a part-time job,” she says. “Maybe babysitting or tutoring piano. My concert tickets won’t pay for themselves,” she winks. Hansol rolls his eyes. “You?”

  
Hansol pauses. “Well.”

  
“Well, what?”

  
“My family is leaving for vacation for the first month of summer. We’re visiting family, so I won’t be around.”

  
Another pause. “Why do you sound sad?” she asks.

  
He turns backwards, surprised to be greeted face-to-face with Dahyun, who had shifted positions on the bed. “I, well,” - her gaze is magnetic - “we won’t be able to see each other.” Pause. “I guess,” he falters, now turning back to stare at the stained carpet in front of him.

  
He feels her hand on his shoulder, squeezing momentarily. “We can still message each other, right? And there’s always video chatting!”

  
“Yeah,” he says, giving her a tight-lipped smile. Why does it feel like time is running out? What is this strange feeling in his stomach?

  
“Yeah,” she repeats. It echoes in his mind, reverberating throughout the rest of his room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“No one asked for all of you to show up at my house right before the party,” Hansol mutters under his breath when he opens the front door to reveal Seungkwan, flanked by Chan and Minghao. They are especially an eyesore today, but he humors them and lets them in, knowing it’d be no use. “You all are too stubborn for your own good,” he says.

  
Seungkwan brushes shoulders with Hansol as he enters. “More like, you’re too soft for your own good,” his friend quips. “Have you thought about it? I think today would be a great day to do it.”

  
“Yeah,” Chan says.

  
“Same,” Minghao concurs.

  
Hansol glares at them. “Not both of you too?”

  
They shrug apologetically. “You’re going on vacation for a whole month soon. Who knows how long she’s gonna wait?”

  
“Wait for what?”

  
“The confession!” all three of them pipe up at once.

  
“Jinx, you both owe me a soda,” Minghao whispers.

  
“You’re saying it like she knows a confession is coming,” Hansol shakes his head in disbelief.

  
Seungkwan leads them all to the living room, headquarters for their secret “committee.” “Letting you in on something here,” Seungkwan half-whispers (only for the dramatic effect). “Although I do not have telepathic powers - believe me, I wish I did - I’m pretty sure Dahyun has at least some inkling of feelings for you. She’s hoping for _something_.”

  
Hansol squints his eyes. “And you know this because?”

  
“The way she looks at you is so different than how she looks at, say -” Seungkwan glances around, “ - Minghao. Am I right, Chan?” Chan nods dutifully. “Plus, look how disappointed she was in herself with how prom turned out. She must really care.”

  
“About prom, you mean,” Hansol adds.

  
“No, she cares about _you_ ,” Seungkwan says pointedly. Then he shivers, as if getting the creeps about his own cheesiness.

  
“In any case,” Chan says. “We’re here to give you moral support and give you a pep talk before the party.”

  
“Um,” Hansol manages to utter, after getting over the initial shock. “Well, thanks?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The party is as raucous and crazy as one would imagine. The moment Hansol steps in through the doors, he’s welcomed by Soonyoung, Momo, and Seokmin battling it out on the playstation set in the living room, complete with obnoxious cheerleaders ft. Wonwoo, Chaeyoung, and Jihyo. Junhui and Tzuyu are helping Seungcheol’s parents bring out platters of food to the backyard patio area, where the rest of them are congregated. Seungcheol and Mingyu are manning the barbecue grill, while Nayeon flits around them doing all the assistant work.

  
“Welcome, everyone!” Seungcheol’s mother announces, once everyone has arrived and gathered outside. “We have tons of food prepared, so do us a huge favor by eating all of it up!”

  
Everyone cheers, and Hansol glances across the patio to see Dahyun nearly tripping over Mina’s feet from jumping up and down in excitement. (Probably because Seungcheol just finished grilling an entire plate of meat.)

  
“Whatchu lookin’ at?” and Hansol doesn’t even have to turn around to label the voice that has appeared next to his ear.

  
He sighs, thinking there’s no use denying it. “You already know, Seungkwan. Go hang out with Cheol’s dog or something.”

  
“Good luck,” is all he says as he leaves, not forgetting to lovingly feed Hansol a strawberry. “Love ya bro.”

  
Hansol shakes his head in amusement, going over instead to throw his arm around Jisoo, who has whipped out his guitar. “Any song requests?” Jisoo yells out, and before much time passes, the backyard is filled with a cacophony of mixed-up lyrics and harmonies. Hansol laughs at Seungkwan’s insistence to make everything into a trot version, as well as Soonyoung and Seokmin’s concurrent gag show guesting the unlikely Tzuyu, who gets surprisingly crazy when she’s high on sweets and soft drinks.

  
It gets even more funny, however, when Dahyun steps into the circle, flapping her arms like an eagle, hair tossing to and fro. Her movements are so exaggerated that it sends Hansol and everyone else into a laughing fit, clutching their stomachs in pain.

  
Seungkwan seizes this chance to turn the whole graduation party into some make-believe reality TV show (MC Boo strikes again), and he’s grasping tightly to a metal serving spoon as his microphone. “How about every person here comes one by one to show a personal talent? Or whatever you want, really. And then I will choose the winner for the best act of the afternoon!”

  
“What’s the prize?” Nayeon yells out.

  
“For you, Seungcheol,” Seungkwan winks greasily, to which Nayeon blushes five shades of red. Seungcheol laughs and hides behind the barbecue grill in embarrassment.

  
Seokmin is forced to imitate a pigeon (only because Jihyo finds it so entertaining), Junhui and Minghao deliver some killer martial arts and b-boying moves, and Momo contorts her body in ways that Hansol didn’t think was humanly possible. Finally, it’s Hansol’s turn.

  
“Um, let me think,” he says once he’s in the spotlight.

  
“Rap something for us!” Dahyun calls out. “I know I’m only seventeen, only got a few dollars -”

  
Hansol smirks. “Okay.”

  
“Join him!” Jeonghan says to Dahyun, who is pushed into the circle by Nayeon and Mina. Hansol turns toward MC Seungkwan, who now carries a sly smile.

  
“Let’s have a rap battle,” Seungkwan starts. “Hansol, Dahyun, stand and face each other.”

  
They awkwardly comply, although Hansol is relieved that Dahyun still appears relaxed.

  
“Now hold hands,” Seungkwan blurts, only to be interrupted by Hansol’s piercing glare. “What are you looking at me like that for?” Seungkwan blinks innocently. “After all, I think you have something to say to her.”

  
The undertones of his words are so exaggerated and obvious that it makes Hansol’s heart start beating faster just thinking about it. But mostly he’s thinking about how his blood is boiling at Seungkwan’s heavy-handed tactics. Someone (probably Minghao, so sneaky...ugh) chucks a haphazardly-assembled bouquet of flowers at him, and Hansol can’t help but reach out to catch it by instinct. The flowers look like they were picked straight out of Seungcheol’s mother’s garden.

  
“What do you have to say?” Dahyun questions, peering closely at him. He only now realizes how little distance is separating them as they stand across from each other.

  
His gaze flutters up to meet hers. “I - uh - well,” he clears his throat, catching a glimpse of Chan and Minghao on the side clutching to each other for dear life in anticipation. He looks back at her, starting to feel the panic bubbling up. “S-sorry about this, Seungkwan’s crazy.”

  
She blinks. “Then why are you holding flowers?”

  
“Um, well I picked them…randomly...because they...they were pretty?” Hansol stammers. ( _Like you_ , he adds in his mind.)

  
“Oh,” she nods slowly. Really, none of this would be this awkward if there weren’t twenty other pairs of eyes latched onto them. He shifts his weight back and forth, all too aware. She’s chewing her bottom lip in thought. Sometimes she drives him absolutely nuts.

  
At that moment, Dahyun steps back so they aren’t alarmingly close anymore, giving Hansol room to finally breathe. She herself takes a deep breath and smiles. “Let’s continue the rap battle, shall we?”

  
He breaks out into a grin. He thinks that it’s a talent how she can navigate these sticky situations with such grace and wit. He feels the nervousness shedding away, and soon enough, they’ve got half the group attempting freestyle raps in succession.

  
Needless to say, the rest of the party is a blast. Really, it is.

  
But for some reason, something still gnaws as the back of the mind, wondering when the next opportunity will come. Hansol steals a glance at the forsaken makeshift bouquet resting on the stone patio next to everyone’s shoes. What if…?

 

 

 

 

 

“Bye, thank you so much for opening up your house to us,” all of them chorus once they finish cleaning up around the Choi house.

  
“It was our pleasure,” Seungcheol’s father laughs heartily.

  
Once they start leaving group by group, Hansol finds himself walking with Dahyun toward their houses, just the two of them. It is silent for most of the way, save for absent-minded chatter about nothing in particular. Empty words to fill up the empty space between them.

  
“Hey Dahyun, I have something to do later today, so let’s walk home a bit faster, alright?” Hansol lies, unable to deal with the pregnant awkwardness between them for much longer.

  
“Yeah, sure thing,” she answers, good-natured as always.

  
His feet start moving faster on their own accord, but his heart yearns to stay a bit longer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The moment Hansol gets home, he stumbles upstairs like the zombie he feels like he is and crashes head first into his bed, muffling his frustration with his pillow. “What just happened,” he groans, looking at his hands in lament, in disbelief that this wasn’t a dream. But his stuffed stomach and the slight sunburn on the top of his ears indeed confirm that this is reality. _Seungkwan is going to regret this,_ Hansol grumbles to himself. _That bastard totally crossed the line this time._  


  
He decides that the only way to get over the ordeal is to lose himself in his music playlist and lay down in bed, closing his eyes to block out everything else. It sucks, then, that all he can imagine while he’s listening to music is how Seungkwan might trot-ify the song and how Dahyun might dance to the music in that crazy but endearing way of hers. He has to grit his teeth to get the image out of his head.

  
Soon, he’s drifting off into sleep, half in and half out of consciousness. He doesn’t know how long he’s asleep, but somewhere within it all, he registers the sound of the doorbell. No one else is home right now, so he carefully picks himself off his bed and trods downstairs. He looks through the door peephole, and to his surprise, he sees... _Dahyun_?

  
His heart is racing yet again while he opens the door, the creak of the door hinge abnormally loud. He’s greeted with the sight of a flustered Dahyun, her hair still slightly unruly from the antics of earlier today and a weird look in her eyes - a mix of emotions he can’t exactly pinpoint.

  
“What’s up?” he breathes, unsure.

  
She looks at him as if with a fresh gaze, her voice shaking just a little. “Hansol, can we go for a walk?”

  
He blinks once, twice, three times. What is this about? “Yeah, sure,” he replies, slipping on his flip flops and stepping outside. “Where to?”

  
Dahyun shrugs. “Anywhere, really. Maybe the park?”

  
He nods, and they fall into step with each other, pace slow and languid. She isn’t saying anything more, and his gaze keeps shifting everywhere else but on her.

  
“So---”

  
“I---”

  
They both pause, laughing a little. “You go first,” Hansol murmurs.

  
“I guess you were going to ask me why we’re going on a walk all of a sudden.”

  
“Something like that,” he chuckles, suddenly all too aware of her hand in the space between them, just hanging by her side.

  
“To be honest, I don’t really know either,” she starts saying. “I mean I do, but like, I don’t know....”

  
Hansol can’t stop staring at her hand, her fingers slightly separated, as if made for -

  
What happens next - even Hansol’s surprised at himself. He reaches into the space between them and grabs her free hand, entangling their fingers together. It happens in a blink of an eye, and by then, it’s too late to let go. Strangely enough, she doesn’t let go either - is what he realizes some moments later.

  
They slow down their walking pace even more to look at each other. Is it surprise that he sees laced in the glimmers of light dancing in her eyes? Is it hope that he sees traced on the outlines of her smiling lips? No way, does she also feel…?

  
But he doesn’t know what to say, so he doesn’t say anything. Dahyun is mute too as they continue walking toward the park.

  
“This was where we first met,” Dahyun says out of the blue once they reach the edge of the grass.

Hansol nods in confirmation, still fixated on their clasped hands.

  
Another pause.

  
“I’m glad we met that day,” Hansol finally says. “I’m glad that we’re neighbors and best friends and schoolmates.”

  
Her smile grows even larger, if that’s even possible. “Me too, Hansol.”

  
They sit at a bench, both staring at their clasped hands resting on Hansol’s knee. “About earlier today,” Hansol takes a deep breath. “It’s true, I did have something to say.” She squeezes his hand in encouragement. He looks at her squarely, trying to swallow away the knot in his throat. “It’s something that I’ve wanted to say for so long that I’ve lost track of when it really started. But I want to say, well… Dahyun, I like you.” He watches her eyes soften. “Like, a lot,” he adds, breathing a sigh of relief once he gets the words out. _It’s been so, so long,_ he thinks to himself.

  
She scoots closer to him on the bench, and he can smell the scent of her fruity shampoo. “I like you, too, Hansol,” she says, and he feels like his heart is going to explode out of his chest. Is this a dream? Time stops for a second, and his mind is racing with disbelief. But the warmth on his shoulder from her head leaning into him tells him otherwise.

  
“Let’s stay like this for a while,” Dahyun says softly, her tangled hair tickling Hansol’s chin. He laughs, pretending to swat her away, but soon she settles back on his shoulder.

  
And so they rest there on the park bench, mere footsteps away from where they first met as little kids: hands still intertwined, her head on his shoulder, and the sun setting in the distance, lighting the sky on fire.

  
Hansol thinks back to Seungkwan’s advice about off-the-chart declarations and thinks smugly to himself that this was probably not on his list of possible scenarios. But, Hansol reckons, moments like these beat any kind of public declaration or grand gesture of devotion. A simple holding of hands, a simple walk on the streets of their childhood, a simple park bench at a simple playground. A simple moment just to themselves.

  
He still has no idea what he’s doing, but at least he’s got her now. And, he doesn’t intend to let her get away this time without letting her know of his true feelings. They (referring to his ragtag group of “wingmen”)  would be so proud, he thinks amusedly to himself. But mostly, he’s proud of himself for finally seizing the opportunity, even if he didn’t even see it coming. Also, he supposes that it helps that Dahyun is...well, Dahyun, the type of girl to ring a boy’s doorbell to invite him out on a neighborhood walk. And _then_ look what happened.

  
He grins to himself.

  
“What are you smiling about?” she asks.

  
“You.”

  
He counts himself real lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much for reading this! i hope you enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed writing it :)


End file.
